In general, in a semiconductor testing apparatus for conducting a test on a semiconductor component, by placing a semiconductor component to be tested on a substrate called a socket board and connecting the socket board to a substrate called a motherboard on a test apparatus main body side, a predetermined electric signal necessary for conducting a test is inputted to or outputted from the socket board via the motherboard to conduct a test on the semiconductor component.
Here, in a conventional semiconductor testing apparatus, in order to give priority to electric performance, the socket board on which a semiconductor component is placed is electrically connected to the motherboard on a test apparatus main body side by wiring, soldering or the like, so that the socket board is integrally connected to the motherboard and hence can not be disconnected from the motherboard. The conventional semiconductor testing apparatus having such a structure that the socket board is integrally connected to and can not be disconnected from the motherboard presents a problem that since the socket board can not be independently disconnected or replaced, it is difficult to meet the test requirements for various kinds of semiconductor components undergoing major diversification.
In recent years, along with increasing complexity in the semiconductor components and progress in high package density, many semiconductor components having different package structures and pin structures have been developed and provided and hence in order to test the semiconductor components having various different structures, it is necessary to change the socket board which is an interface of the semiconductor component to the socket board corresponding to the pin structures and package structures of the respective semiconductor components. However, in the conventional semiconductor testing apparatus, as described above, the socket board is integrally connected to the motherboard of the apparatus main body side by soldering or the like and can not be disconnected from it, so that it is impossible to connect and disconnect or replace only the socket board. Thus, when tests are to be performed on different kinds of semiconductors, it is necessary to replace the whole test apparatus including the motherboard.
The conventional semiconductor that requires replacing the whole test apparatus, as described above, not only takes much time for using the new motherboards and elongates a test period, but also incurs increasing test cost and a waste of resources because it needs to introduce and replace expensive motherboards for the respective semiconductor components.
Thus, after an earnest research, the present applicant invented a semiconductor testing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-047186 in which by adopting connectors removably mated with each other as a connection structure of the socket board and the motherboard in the semiconductor testing apparatus, the socket board can be freely mated with and demated from the motherboard and can be replaced.
FIGS. 9(a) and 9(b) are an illustration conceptually showing a semiconductor testing apparatus proposed by the present applicant and disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-047186, where FIG. 9(a) is a front view of the apparatus in a state where the socket board is removed from the motherboard and FIG. 9(b) is a bottom view of the socket board shown in FIG. 9(a).
As shown in these drawings, in this semiconductor testing apparatus, a motherboard 120 and a socket board 110 can be freely mated with and demated from each other. As for the socket board 110, a plurality of socket boards 110 are aligned on a plate to be a base and, as shown in FIG. 9(b), the socket board 110 has connectors 114a, 114b, 114c, 114d, . . . 114n mated with a connector (not shown) on the motherboard 120 side opposed thereto.
According to the semiconductor testing apparatus like this, the socket board 110 is removably connected to the motherboard 120 via the connectors 114a to 114n. Thus, for example, in a case where tests are made on semiconductor components that are different from each other in a package structure and a pin structure, it is possible to remove the socket board 110 from the motherboard 120 (refer to FIG. 9(a)) and to change only the socket board to a socket board corresponding to each semiconductor component.
Thus, in this semiconductor testing apparatus, it is possible to meet the test requirements for different kinds of semiconductor components by separately changing only the socket board and hence to eliminate need for changing the whole apparatus including the motherboard as required by the conventional apparatus. Therefore, a semiconductor testing apparatus having versatility could be realized at low cost.
By the way, as for the socket board mounted in the semiconductor testing apparatus, usually, a plurality of socket boards are aligned on the motherboard so as to conduct a test on many semiconductor components at the same time. Then, in the semiconductor testing apparatus of a board mating and demating type in accordance with the foregoing invention of the present applicant, a predetermined number of socket boards and connectors aligned on a frame are unified (refer to FIG. 9(b)) and the socket boards can be mated with and demated from the motherboard by a substrate unified in this manner (refer to FIG. 9(a)). Thus, all the connectors of the plurality of socket boards unified can be mated with and demated from the connectors of the motherboard corresponding thereto at the same time.
Here, usually, in a case where one connector is connected to another connector, it can be easily connected even manually, but in a case where many connectors are arranged on the same plane and are connected at the same time to a plurality of connectors of the mate corresponding thereto, all the connectors to be connected need to be moved to the mate along the direction in which they are mated and the plurality of connectors need to be mated with and demated from the connectors at the same time, so that as the connectors to be connected increase in number, an operation of mating and demating the connectors only by hand becomes difficult.
Further, in the semiconductor testing apparatus shown in FIGS. 9(a) and 9(b), the plurality of connectors are aligned on the same plane in correspondence to the plurality of socket boards. Thus, the operation of mating and demating the connectors only by hand becomes difficult and hence it is desired that some means for mating and demating connectors is developed. Therefore, as a result of further earnest research thereafter, the present applicant has reached an idea that in a case where a plurality of connectors are aligned on the same substrate, by developing a jig capable of moving back and forth the substrate along a direction in which the connectors are mated and demated, a load on the operation of mating and demating the connectors by hand can be reduced and minimized.
The present invention aims to solve the above problems. It is an object of the present invention to provide a jig for mating and demating connectors on a substrate, where the jig includes with an adapter contacting and engaging with the substrate provided with connectors. By moving the adaptor forward and backward along a direction in which the connectors are mated and demated, the substrate is moved forward and backward in a direction in which the connectors are mated and demated thereby to mate and demate connectors with and from the connectors of the mate opposed thereto. Even when many connectors are provided, the jig can easily and surely mate and demate all the connectors at the same time. The jig is particularly suitable for mating and demating the connectors of a socket board or a self-diagnostic board removably mounted on the motherboard of a test apparatus of a semiconductor component.